Why did I open with a French phrase? It describes an opening position, as fencers face each other and prepare to attack or defend. It’s the challenge uttered by the prissy villain moments before his wardrobe is slashed to rags and the hero leaps from the window, fair maiden in his arms, to land on the […]
transformational words
Making Word Music: Practice Your Way to Perfection
Yesterday I practiced writing. Today I am practicing writing. Tomorrow I will practice writing. Are you seeing a pattern here? Practice is a repeated action. The practitioner repeats the action because he is attempting to acquire proficiency. When I was young(er), I played the organ, and later the piano. But I only played after minutes, […]
Day Three – Initiate a Writerly Habit: Clean It Up
It’s time to initiate one good writing habit. Initiate is an action verb. Meaning we have to actually do something. Let’s take a hard look at your writing lair. Is everything organized and ready to find when you stumble into your writing space at Oh-dark-thirty in the morning? (Thank you, Jeff Goins!) Or are you […]
A Little Fairy Dust: Day Two – Believe
“If you believe, clap your hands.” Oh wait, that’s how we save tiny fairies. However, many writers are just as fragile as any gossamer-winged creature written by James M. Barrie. In fact, some of us are much more fragile. I’m pretty sure itsy, bitsy Tinker Bell believed in herself enough to fly as high as […]
Make a Habit of It: Following the Greats
Last month I posted an entry in Jeff Goins’ You Are A Writer contest to promote his new book. Writing my post and reading the posts of every other contestant was so inspiring. The world is full of people who say they want to write. But this group of 138 writers didn’t just talk about wanting to […]
Leaping Into Failure: Chances Are You’ll Reach Excellence
Sometimes we have to hear it from someone else. We know the facts, but they always seem to apply to someone else. Someone else can write a book, find an energetic, nurturing agent, and have multiple high profile publishers engaged in a six-figure auction for the right to bring your book to the world. But […]
Revealing Ourselves: Writers Take Risks
So, I didn’t win, or even place, in Jeff’s Goins’ You Are a Writer contest. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I was one of 138 writers who publicly stood up and declared our innermost identities. Isn’t that the most important thing? That we claim our talents and make use of them – […]
Claim It, Shout It: I Am A Writer!
Is yours the only house on the block with a window still lit at 2:00 a.m.? If that light were not casting a golden glow across your backyard when he comes home from swing shift, would the deputy sheriff living next-door break down the door to see if you are lying in a pool of […]
Kickstart a Writer’s Dream: You Can Be Steampunk Holmes' Angel
What if the book you are currently reading was fully interactive? What if you could touch a scene in your book, and see it come to life as a movie? Or examine a detailed drawing of the equipment and weapons in use? What if your book spoke with an English accent? What if a map of old London […]
Generous Writers Reap Rewards: Share Your Knowledge
Are you a generous writer? When you run across a contest or call for submissions do you hoard it for yourself, or do you joyfully send the information to writer friends you know can create exactly what the publisher desires? Are you afraid if you share what you have learned with other writers that somehow they […]